Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tuesday Tip No. 45 - How To Write Copy

You’re just adding an extra element, which means fewer eyeballs will be attracted to the ad in the first place. So it’s counter-productive.

In the olden days, copy was important because it was a source of information about the product.

But nowadays, people almost never make a purchase without getting information from the internet first. Therefore, copy isn’t needed. Just put the web address.

In fact, even the web address is unnecessary, in my view, since consumers can be fairly confident in assuming that every company in the world which is selling products today, has a website. And you don’t even need to tell consumers what that website’s name is, because they’ll get to it via Google - that’s just what everyone does.

One argument you still occasionally hear in favour of copy is that it helps ‘close the sale’.

This ‘closing the sale’ argument is based on a bizarre view of how advertising works - that consumers read an advert for a product, drop their magazine and walk in a zombie-like trance to the shops to buy it.

Sorry, but you can’t close a sale with an advert. Advertising does have a huge influence on behaviour, but it’s not like you’re pressing the buttons on a radio-controlled car here.

There’s only one example I can think of when some copy on an advert might be a good thing. And that is when you want to imply that your product is a serious product, which has a lot worth saying about it. Of course, almost no one will read this copy. But the very fact that the advert has a lot of copy on it will communicate that this is a serious product, which has a lot worth saying about it. (N.B. this benefit may possibly be offset by the large number of people who will be put off even looking at the advert because of its dull and waffly appearance.)

So the only reason to write copy is if all the above arguments fail, and the client (via the account team) tell you that you have to.

Then you have to.

There’s very little to be gained from it. I’ve twice judged the ‘Copy’ section for D&AD, so someone out there must consider me a good copywriter. Yet in 15 years, no one’s ever told me: “Nice copy.”

Having said all that, I do think it’s worth doing a Tip about how to write copy.

Why? Because most Creatives nowadays come from an art-school or graphic design background rather than any kind of writing-related field, are not necessarily confident writing copy, and so (I get the feeling) would appreciate some guidance.

Also, although there is little to be gained from writing good copy, there is plenty to lose if you write bad copy. Principally, there’s a risk you may displease your Creative Director. He may be one of those Creative Directors (because remember he is a fair bit older than you - perhaps even of a different generation, at least in advertising terms) who still thinks that an ability to write copy is important.

Even if he does understand how irrelevant copy is, you may still piss him off if you do it badly - by taking up his valuable time to help you fix it.

The best result is you do this quickly and cleanly. That way the account team, Creative Director and Client are happy, while you have got it off your desk with a minimum of time & effort spent, so you can get on with something else… something which might actually advance your career.

Here are my 5 tips for writing better copy.

1. Spell-check. Every time you pass your copy to another sentient being – be that your Creative Director, Traffic guy, Client or whatever – spell-check. I personally believe that an insistence on correct spelling is pointless; nothing more than pedantry. I’m far more interested in what someone has to say, not whether they’ve remembered that ‘accommodation’ needs 2 C’s and 2 M’s. (Why does it?) However, there are plenty of people out there who place poor spelling on a par with poor personal hygiene, poor manners, and the decline of the British Empire. And you don’t want to piss anyone off unnecessarily. Not when avoiding it is as easy as pressing F7. So do that.

2. Get the account team to give you a copy brief, or ‘account man copy’ before you start. Often there’s little wrong with it.

3. Use simple, common words. But not exclusively - throw in the odd clever one too. It’s a trick that really works. The late style guru Sheridan Baker, who in turn was paraphrasing Aristotle, wrote: “For clarity, we need common, current words; but, used alone, these are commonplace, and as ephemeral as everyday talk. For distinction, we need words not heard every minute, unusual words, large words, foreign words, metaphors; but, used alone, these become bogs, vapours, or at worst, gibberish. What we need is a diction that weds the popular with the dignified, the clear current with the sedgy margins of language and thought.”

4. Good copy is copy that flows. So avoid elements that could make a reader stumble. These include punctuation in the wrong place, words or combinations of words that make an ugly or weird sound in the head, lack of clarity, boasting, unnecessary changes of tense, use of passive voice, repetition (unless deliberate), clichés, vagueness, blandness… and lists. Like the one you just read.

Three is really the maximum number of items to put in a list, unless your goal is to send the reader off for his sleepy-time.

A bit more on some of those other “don’ts”:

Punctuation in the wrong place is bad. The only purpose of punctuation is to clarify meaning. Putting it in the wrong place makes your meaning less clear.

Avoid rhyming copy, it just sounds weird. In general, try to listen in your head to the sounds that your words make. Avoid combinations that sound ugly or are hard to say.

Lack of clarity is your No.1 enemy. Always check your copy (or have someone else read it) to see whether any bits could be read the wrong way.

Don’t boast. Describing the product as ‘amazing’ or ‘wonderful’ won’t actually make people think it is. Would you describe yourself as ‘amazing’? Persuasion occurs when you present someone with the facts in an appealing way, and let them come to the amazingness conclusion for themselves.

Avoid unnecessary changes of tense. A sudden move like this can throw a reader right off his horse. In general, keep everything in the same tense. The present tense.

Passive voice has a place – like maybe if you want to portray someone as a real victim – but rarely in advertising copy.

Avoid repeating words, even little ones like ‘of’ and ‘and’. Such repetition probably wouldn’t trip a reader, and may not even be consciously noticed. But unconsciously, I believe it registers as a low-quality signal. Someone who finds it necessary to repeat a word, when they’re only using 50 of the blighters, obviously doesn’t have a very large vocabulary. Repetition is only okay if you’re doing it deliberately, for effect. Example: “There’s no business like showbusiness.”

5. For goodness sake, don’t spend ages on a piece of copy. Chances are that as soon as you have it perfectly crafted, with not a word out of place, and a rhythm that would be the envy of Keats… the Client thinks of a point they want to add or take out, and you’ll have to re-tool.

61 comments:

I like copy; my ability to string a sentence together reminds me that I'm better than the mouth-breathing art school dunderheads who barely know which end of a marker pen to use.

Just kidding.

You're absolutely right about how tempting it is to a reader, though. Being a copywriter I have trawled through many a copy section of D&AD and yet still found hundreds of excuses to avoid reading the blah blah blah that lies within. So if I can't be bothered under those circumstances, then the average punter won't give a mouse shit. Oh well.

First of all art directors that could draw were put to the sword. And now copywriters who can write.

The ushering in and encouragement of the death of the copywriter is such a shame. I personally love copy. I love its heritage. I love its great practitioners.

I refuse to accept people don't read copy until the day they stop reading magazines newspapers and. um. blogs.

What people don't read is BAD copy. And unfortunately bad copy is everywhere.

Probably because no-one values good copy any more.

"Ideas people" has been the term in the new aeon. I think 'ideas people' is a brilliant linguistic tool to hide any shortcomings in talent; one not uncommonly cited by the people who WANT to be in advertising. The kids who have loved money and stuff from the day they were born and never even dabbled with non-commercial artforms.

Yes, in most ads, the ideal word count is nil. But sometimes words are needed to make an argument.

"A picture is worth a thousand words". I've yet to see a picture articulate those seven words adequately.

I wish people with a voice in the industry would avoid saying such things.

I know I'm sounding like a dinosaur. But killing talents and craft skills with such de rigeur statements is dangerous. Because when something is dead, it stays dead.

Imagine how ludicrous it would seem if we said "images" are dead. It would sound absurd. And this sounds equally absurd to me.

There's always a story to be told - at least in every idea worth having.

Sorry this reply is so long, if I'd had more time it would have been shorter. (A Wildeism, I think)

I got bored after the first line of the first comment. In fact I think its a god damn miracle I made it onto the comments page, (applause from copywriter's around the globe)And by the way Scamp, have you thought about using a different typeface, I mean for gods sake, so many to choose from.

I do try to avoid writing copy whenever I can, mainly because it's my job and I am extremely lazy.

More pertinently though, I agree with cleaver. Placement, or the right channel or whatever, seems pretty key. If you have a captive audience then good copy is a good thing. But just blindly trusting that everyone will read reams of text blathering on about God knows what is ignorant in the extreme.

Right, back to the 24-page brochure that nobody's ever gonna read. Apart from the no doubt suicidal lawyer who keeps sending it back to me with changes.

The Goldfish ads are a great reason why copy is dying on its arse. They are monumentally fucking, fucking, fucking boring. You might get through one if you're bored on a tube platform but otherwise (and believe me, I've tried) they will inspire you to scrape out your eyeballs with a rusty hacksaw, firebomb the Goldfish offices and wonder what on earth the pretentious load of old monkey-wank is all about.

If anyone involved is reading this, please tell us why we would give a shit about your cuntily-named credit card based on a dreary story from a comedian whose best years are long since behind them.

Does nobody think that the bring back the Whisper campaign was any good? That was an enormous page of copy, but if you read the first line, then there was an urge to read on...... And it worked, didn't it?

Be as open minded to copy as you are a great photograph, a great visual, a great bit of design. The minute you say one is no longer relevant you cut down your creative options. Scamp, to a degree is right, copy isn't often all that necessary in print ads. But one day, it may just provide a refreshingly different approach for you and D&AD might cry, "long copy, how utterly original - here, have a pencil or ten." Might not happen, but learn how to write copy just in case.

Yeah...experienced doesn't mean good. I know DM doesn't just mean leaflets and mailshots, but most of it is and most of them are shit.

Ex-dm people have an advantage in that they know what it is to be a member of the most downtrodden disregarded section of the communications industry. If they can get through a few years of that without drinking strychnine, then they might have the resilience to continue their tiny, washed-up, dribbly little lives.

Scamp. People won't read copy about chocolate? I enjoyed reading the long copy on that Wispa ad. If it's an interesting subject to the reader and it's informative and entertaining then believe people will read it. Just ask any successful author. And you've used an awful lot of copy here to argue against the use of copy

Scamp - just read some excellent long copy for a hair care product.Check out p.24 of this years latest one show annual (thanks losers BBDO for the tip on Amazon)Put that in your 'long copy is dead' pipe and smoke it.

Being a creative who knows how to write is like knowing karate. You don't have to go on and on about it, but you are not to be fucked with. And people (even quite senior people) will count on you to save their ass.

"People almost never make a purchase without getting information from the internet first"

Really? We like to think so, but is it true? Is it true of all categories? What is the extent of that "research" and would great copy be more effective than or influence what they read on the internet?

And it may be a moot point, but what is all that information except copy?

look, if it's a considered purchase, like a car say, people read about it (and configure it and customize it, pick a color etc) online. so blathering on about how great a car it is is a waste of ink and trees. this is a comparatively new development. but a good one from marketer's pov. way better than a press ad.

and if it's not a considered purchase, say a shampoo for example, there's bugger all to say anyway. so no copy.

i think one of the reasons we don't write copy led ads anymore is that it takes time to write it and craft it well. and the time creative depts get on briefs at the idea stage is almost non existent these days.

so instead of presenting sub standard copy to thier CD's, creatives always present the quick visual routes at ideas stage of the process.

re 4.10pm, 'this years latest One show Annual', are you telling us that the One show Annual is now being published several times a year? I think the clue to this not being true is in the name of this publication: One Show Annual, Annual means something that happens once a year. I mean come on this is a post about copy.

I love copy, maybe I'm old fashioned but I strongly believe in the power of the written word enabling brands to communicate with their audience, especially since reading copy in magazines and newspapers is about as close as I can get these days to masturbating on the telephone whilst calling the John Lewis furniture dept. I lost all feeling in my Penis after an awkward moment with my Dyson DC05 ( Blue model, not the more common yellow one).

The rather dull Goldfish long copy ads are a particular favorite for my long copy wank Bank right now.

Much as my gut tells me you're right Simon and much as I want to believe it (okay, and much as I make the same argument myself) there's a world of research out there proving us wrong. That putting the web address or the phone number or the words "buy it now" at the bottom increase sales when that's the only difference between the two ads.

Check out this blog, which is all about that sort of stuff and ranks as #2 on the (US) Ad Age Power 150http://www.copyblogger.com/

Scamp, while I disagree with your general dismissive thoughts on the need for words, your tips for writing better copy are excellent (so good in fact I will be making my copywriters read your blog on Monday).

much thanks to the 39 year ironic t-shirt wearer for the comment on my samaritans ad - thing is that year d and ad were going to get rid of the copy section - thing is if u want to buy something u will read anything on an ad - the small print up the side the legals etc - if you dont - you wont read anything - but today people seem to the copy has to be some abstract story rather than writing about the product - and even in long copy ads the way its laid out seems more important -

i think we underestimate the importance of writing in advertising - there are no awards for slogans - how come - there are for retouching -

the pun headline was rightly ridiculed - but it's time the visual pun went the same way - look someone came up with the idea of summing up the message with a visual idea - it's done stop it - at cannes last year it was like i was seeing the same idea a thousand times over - just find the message - oh and make a visual pun out of it - stop now

A great man (and I'm sure you know who I refer to) once said: "People read what they want to read"And for those few that get the chance to take a glimpse of what you have written ... you know how it feels.